“You’re under arrest, mister.”

Hyukjae smirked and flashed his badge at the bewildered man. Two more officers came out behind Hyukjae and produced a baton and a pair of cuffs. “If you come along quietly, things will go easier on you.”

“You guys are ing crazy. Why the hell am I under arrest?”

“Kim Heechul,” Hyukjae said sternly, roughly gripping the other man’s hand when he tried getting away. “Don’t make this any harder for any of us. Are you going to surrender or not?”

“No way! Let go of me, you swine!” Heechul glared at the three officers and tried kicking Hyukjae in the stomach in an attempt to get away. “ing let go of me! Why the are you arresting me?”

Hyukjae swiftly avoided the kick and twisted the other’s arm behind his back, making the taller man howl in pain. Hyukjae then quickly pulled Heechul’s other arm behind him and had one of the officers cuff Heechul while the other read him his rights.

“I know my ing rights, Lee Hyukjae, now let me go this instant! It’s not April’s fool and I refuse to be pranked like this!” Heechul roared, tugging angrily at his cuffs as he was being body searched for weapons against the wall. “You better stop playing tricks on me and let me go before I smash you into the wall.”

Heechul’s eyes bored straight into Hyukjae’s own, intimidating the others as he glared at each of them in a deranged manner. Hyukjae faltered in his steps but he kept a firm hand on the handcuffed officer. “This is not a joke, Heechul. You’re under arrest for attempted murder.”

“Attempted murder?” Heechul scoffed angrily. “So this is how you provoke your victims, Lee Hyukjae? Arrest them for murder that you provoked them into committing? you! Now let me go before I kill you.”

Hyukjae gritted his teeth and challenged Heechul’s death glare. “I’m not letting you go this easily, Kim Heechul. Not when you have a string of murders under your belt. Don’t think that we can’t prove you weren’t the perpetrator for the murders of Kim Jonghyun, Lee Taemin and the others.”

“You’re out of your mind!” Heechul roared, struggling against his cuffs. “I have nothing to do with their murders! How the did you even associate me with those stupid murders? I’m innocent!”

“We know about your relationship with Gunhee,” Hyukjae answered dangerously calmly, but his eyes were slowly becoming hard. He recognised the shock in Heechul’s eyes and smirked, knowing that he had caught the officer in a difficult position. “We also know that Gunhee is a shady character, and that he is indirectly involved with the car theft gang. You have been the dirty cop all along, leaking all our inside information to him so that he’d notify the gang and evade capture from the police for years!” Hyukjae accused, getting angrier by the minute. Heechul’s face looked in a state of deep shock and his mouth kept opening and closing, but he couldn’t utter a sound. He could only stare at Hyukjae dumbfounded as the other heaped accuses on him.

“I underestimated how heartless you could be, Kim Heechul,” Hyukjae continued, with a deep frown on his face. “You had no problem at all putting people away when they became a huge inconvenience to you, or when you thought they were about to rat you out to us. Is everything worth it? What benefits do you get exactly from the gang that you’d even kill your own lover without so much of a thought?”

Heechul froze. Hyukjae thought he got him and scoffed loudly. “Regretting it now, you heartless bastard? Gunhee’s as good as dead at the hospital now. Happy?”

Hyukjae let his guard down just then and that was when Heechul lost it. With a loud growl, the taller officer knocked Hyukjae to the ground with his shoulder. “What the do you mean by that?” the taller officer screamed, kicking the fallen officer and kneeing him in the gut. “What have you done to Gunhee? Tell me now!”

The two officers tried pulling the seething man off poor Hyukjae and one of them pressed his gun against Heechul’s back. “Don’t try any funny business now or I’ll shoot,” he warned in an icy tone.

Hyukjae sat up with some help and glared at Heechul. His entire torso hurt and he’d scraped both his elbows and his knees on the pavement when he was knocked down. “You killed your own lover to silence him. Don’t pretend like you don’t know anything about it,” Hyukjae spat, then ordered the two officers to bring Heechul back to the station. “Bastard.”

“I didn’t kill him!!” Heechul roared, fighting against his restraints but he was growing weaker by the second. “I wouldn’t kill him, you’re lying! He’s not dead! He can’t be dead! You’re lying!!”

* * *

“You’re lying.”

Donghae sighed and gestured for Hyukjae to leave. Hyukjae was indignant however, and slammed his fists angrily on the interrogation table. “Kim Heechul, I’m asking you a question here. Were you not in cahoots with the car theft gang and did you not kill all those victims because they were all about to expose you as the bad cop?”

“I’m not a murderer.”

“You better confess now if you know what’s best for you.”

“I want to see Gunhee.”

“Gunhee is DEAD!”

“YOU’RE LYING!”

“Alright guys, we’re going nowhere with this,” Donghae interrupted, putting his hand calmly on Hyukjae’s right shoulder and pushing him back down to sit. “Hyuk, I suggest you leave for a bit. It’s obvious that Heechul isn’t going to talk with you around.”

Hyukjae eyed his prisoner and frowned. “I don’t trust him alone with you.”

“He can’t do anything to me at this point,” Donghae pointed out the cuffs securing Heechul to the other end of the long metal table. “And I don’t think your temper is going to help the case. Please,” the chief sighed and pointed to the door. “Leave us alone for a bit. Ask Sungmin hyung to help you with those scrapes and cuts. You know where the first aid kit is.”

Hyukjae got up and left with a huff. Donghae had been very upset to see Hyukjae limping and bleeding all the way to the station just now, but he knew that they had to deal with Heechul first and so he didn’t get to tend to Hyukjae’s cuts personally, which he would have dearly wanted to do. The chief didn’t deny that he was furious to learn that Heechul had caused Hyukjae’s injuries, but he knew that Hyukjae sort of had a way of dealing with criminals that brought out the worst in them. He couldn’t completely blame Heechul for hurting Hyukjae after all.

The door slammed after Hyukjae. Donghae sighed in relief. He knew that Hyukjae would still be watching from the observation window, so he shooed him off, giving the elder a look telling him that he could handle everything on his own. So Hyukjae left.

It was only Donghae and Heechul, and the video camera.

The chief stood up and turned off the camera. “There. Now everything you say will be off records. I want you to come clean to me.”

He could see the shock, grief, and disbelief in Heechul’s eyes that Hyukjae didn’t see. Heechul was simply being defensive. It was a normal reaction.

“I want to see Gunhee.”

“He’s not dead, but he may not make it through tonight.”

“I… I want to see him.”

“I want you to tell me everything that happened yesterday.”

“Please, Donghae,” Heechul pleaded, tears coming to his eyes that he furiously blinked away. “I don’t want him to leave before I can reconcile with him…”

Donghae stayed silent for a bit then spoke up. “You didn’t kill him, or attempt to kill him, did you?”

Heechul scoffed despite the tears trailing down his cheeks. “Look, we’ve had our fair share of fights and quarrels but I can assure you that I’d never wish death upon him. Never.”

“I believe you. I promise you that I’ll let you see him as soon as you answer all my questions. The sooner we finish, the sooner you can see him,” Donghae said firmly but not harshly. Business was business, but he guessed Heechul could use some comfort at the moment.

The chief waited in silence. Half a minute passed, then the clink of the metal cuffs was heard.

“I’ll tell you everything.”
 

* * *

“Hyukjae hyung?”

Hyukjae lifted his head and looked up. “Oh. Ryeowookie. OWWW!!”

Ryeowook winced when Hyukjae did as Sungmin spread more antisept